Picking Up the Pieces
by Miss Ruby Jones
Summary: Valentine's Day hits Storybrooke, much to the dismay of the local werewolf. Who could possibly make her shattered heart heal just a little bit faster? Why our favorite pirate, of course. Will they have a romance, or is it just one night of comfort? So far, a one shot, but hopefully I will start updating it after Captain Hook week. Prompt: shattered.


Storybrooke was teeming with the Valentine's Day jitters. The holiday was mere days away, and the town was filled with true love. Even the queen had found a new love. Red, however, had not. She was stuck with her shattered heart because of past sins, sins she hadn't been able to control. So she watched as couples came into the diner. Regina, Robin Hood, and his son took up a booth, Rumple and Belle took another, and Emma, Neal, and Henry were in yet another. Red waited on them all with a fake smile on her face. She had no interest in being surrounded by the happy couples while she was stuck alone.

Once she had taken food to each table, she returned to the bar counter. She leaned over it, burying her face in her arms.

"What's wrong with you, lass?" a smooth voice asked. The brunette looked up to see the infamous pirate captain sliding onto the bar stool before her. "You seem rather upset."

Red sighed heavily. "I hate February," she said. "I'm glad that people are happy, but…" Her voice trailed off.

"But it hurts to be alone." Killian Jones knew that feeling all too well. "Do tell, why specifically this month? What makes February worse?" he asked.

Apparently he hadn't noticed all of the Valentine's Day decorations that already littered the diner, much to Red's dismay. Granny had put them up without telling her, and, whenever Red had tried, scolded the young brunette for taking them down. "Valentine's Day." Killian gave her a vacant stare of complete ignorance. "It's a holiday to celebrate love," she explained. "All the couples get together and rub their happiness in the lonely peoples' faces. It is not an enjoyable experience if you don't have that love."

"Ah… so not your favorite holiday, then?" Red shook her head. "Well, if you need an escape from the couples, you are always welcome on the Jolly Roger."

"Thanks," Red replied, a slight, real smile touching her lips. "I may just take you up on that."

Days passed by much the same. Couples would come into the diner, and, each time she waited on them, she felt the pain of a shattered heart. Even the other single people made her sad because they all spoke of the hope to find love. They all were sickeningly hopeful. Out of all the people in all the realms, they all think they can find their one true love. Even some of the others who had lost their true love thought they could find another. Red, however, couldn't seem to find that hope. There was just one person who made her feel like a human being instead of just a broken girl. The pirate captain had been in the diner every day until the late hours of the night when all the other patrons had dispersed. They talked and laughed together until she closed the diner. He made the couples and the hopeful singles bearable.

Valentine's Day had arrived, and Red was working yet another day at the diner. Hearts and streamers overflowed the small area, and so did most of the couples of Storybrooke. Red felt her heart break over and over again. Every time the bell above the door jingled, she snapped her head to look to the door only to be disappointed when it wasn't her favorite pirate. After hours and hours, she finally lost the ability to stand the pain. She pulled off the apron that was tied around her waist and threw it on the counter. Without so much as a word, she fled from the diner with Granny's yells pervading the air after her. She ignored them as she pushed herself to run towards the dock, towards the Jolly Roger. She wanted to find the one person who didn't make her feel like her heart was shattered. She ran faster in anticipation.

She boarded the Jolly Roger, but slowed her pace when she didn't see him on the deck. Her mind immediately went to the worst. She thought over her decision to go to the pirate's ship unannounced. Maybe he had found someone else to fill up his Valentine's Day. He wasn't tethered to Storybrooke, so why should she think he hadn't gone to a nearby town instead of staying on the ship. Or maybe he was on the ship, but he had another woman in his quarters. Red turned on her heel and moved back towards the dock in defeat. She didn't know what she would find, but her fear overtook her. She couldn't bear to face the possibility that he had forgotten his offer to her. A single tear dropped from her eye as she reached the gang plank. Heavy footsteps behind her sounded, and a sultry voice stopped the wolf in her tracks. "There you are, lass. I was beginning to think that you wouldn't come."

The tear that had slipped down her cheek was wiped away before she turned to see Killian Jones just feet behind her. "For a while, I didn't think I was," she said softly. The confident woman's voice was broken in a way that Killian had never heard from her.

He took a step towards her. "And why is that lass?" Killian asked carefully.

"Because I thought I could handle it. But the love, or the hope of love, was overwhelming. I felt… broken. And, as of late, you're the only person I haven't felt so shattered around… I just don't know how people can have so much hope."

The pirate took another step towards her so the pair stood almost chest to chest. "You're not broken, lass." He raised his good hand to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear. His fingertips trailed lightly along her jawline. "Not even close to broken."

"My heart… it's been shattered to pieces for so long," she told him softly.

Killian looked at her with surprisingly caring eyes. "I may not have dealt with it as well as you, lass, but I know what it's like to lose someone. Pan called it right, I'm a one-handed pirate with a drinking problem… But everyone needs some kind of hope, and I'm sure you'll find it. I know I have. And if I can find hope, so can you."

"How are you still filled with hope?"

"I had lost it for a long time, lass. There was a long time where I was absolutely miserable. And I thought I had found hope in Emma, but it's nothing like how I feel with…" His voice trailed off. He may be a badass pirate, but he knew when there was a time to be blunt and a time to be quiet. He knew that if he pushed his feelings on her without her consent, he could lose her forever. His hope would be shattered the same way his heart had been.

She felt him move a slight bit closer, his breath warm on her cherry lips. She could smell his unique mixture of scents: leather, sea salt, wood, and the slight spice of rum. It was intoxicating to the wolf. "What gives you hope, Killian?" She hoped she knew the answer. After all the late night conversations at the diner the two had had, she knew what she wanted the answer to be.

He breathed softly. "You, Red," he told her. "You are not the only one who had a shattered heart. When I'm around you, it doesn't feel like my heart needs to stay the way it was. Something about you makes me feel like a new chance for love is possible."

Red stood on her toes to touch her lips to his. Her hands threaded into his hair, pulling him closer to her. His fingertips did not move from her face, but his hooked arm wrapped around her waist, drawing her body flush against his chest. Her lips moved fiercely against his in their increasingly passionate kiss.

They broke apart for air, but returned to kissing a moment later. Red was lost in his scent, his taste, and his touch. She felt the pieces of her heart start to reform. Maybe it wasn't love yet, but it could be eventually.

When they parted again, Killian leant his forehead against hers. "So, do you still hate this 'Valentine's Day'?" he asked with a smirk.

Red chuckled. "I think it's starting to grow on me," she quipped. They stood together in silence for a few moments before Red sighed deeply. "I should get back to work, or Granny will kill me."

Killian groaned. "Must you? I was starting to enjoy the evening," he said with a wink. Red rolled her eyes, knowing he hadn't changed. But Red wouldn't want him any other way. If he wasn't his flirtatious, pirate self, she wouldn't feel the way she did about him.

"I do, but I'm off at midnight. Come to the diner," she offered.

"Midnight, huh? That gives me a few hours to plan something truly awe inspiring," he said.

"Like what?" she asked.

"Hmm… How does a late night dinner on a pirate ship sound, love?" he asked.

Red smiled at him, her eyes alight with joy. "Sounds perfect. So I'll see you soon?" Killian nodded. "Promise you'll come?"

"I promise," he said, pulling her into another kiss. This kiss was softer than the others. It was more of a promise than a fevered meeting of two once broken souls. Killian's thumb ran lightly across her bottom lip, which was almost enough to entice Red to stay on the ship. "I really should let you get back to work," he said, releasing her waist and face, "or I'll try to keep you on this ship forever." Red moved out of his arms after one final peck to the pirate's lips. She walked down to the docks, leaving Killian alone with his thoughts.

The woman he had just let go of had given him his hope back, and there was no way he was letting her go. The pirate had known when to give up on Emma, because he couldn't keep her from his true love, but Red was different. He would fight for her for as long as he had breath. He mused over the beautiful woman as he spent the next few hours preparing the best meal he could think of before going to find her at the diner. He had no doubts that a relationship with the wolf would never being boring, and he couldn't wait.


End file.
